This invention pertains to farm implements adapted to carry baled forage material and particularly the currently-used cylindrical bales. The invention is concerned with the means for loading and unloading the bales by powered self-contained means.
In previous years, forage materials have been baled into bales of rectangular shapes. These bales were small enough so that they could be loaded, stacked and unloaded by a single person. Certain lifting devices and elevators were designed for handling these bales, but no other particular bale handling machinery was necessary.
At the present time, machinery has been designed and is being used to bale hay, straw and other forage material into much larger cylindrical bales. These bales weigh much more than an individual can lift, and therefore handling machinery is necessary.
Most present day handling machinery is designed to lift a single bale onto a wagon or other carrier, or to carry that single bale on a tractor in a manner similar to a fork lift truck. Because these bales are often rolled in large fields at some distance from the place they are to be stored and used, such handling of single bales is slow and cumbersome.
By my invention I provide a carrier designed to carry several bales from one point to another as well as to load the bale and unload it by self-contained power operated means.